In celebration of our new CraftFoxes Marketplace, we are giving
you the inside scoop on the artists we have on board with us for this exciting
new venture. Let’s meet Annie, the owner of Sweet Pea's Paper Flowers.
She makes incredible alternative wedding bouquets out of paper and other
mediums like vintage brooches. They are all handmade and every single flower is
given extreme attention to detail to make sure that each bouquet develops
beautifully. Some of her brides have said "Absolutely stunning, this is going to help make my wedding so beautiful!" "Too beautiful for words," and "Wonderful seller to work with, lots of communication and even in-progress photos. The flowers are gorgeous and I can't wait to walk down the aisle with my beautiful paper flower bouquet!" We are so happy to have her with us in our marketplace.

What inspires your work?

My love of flowers. I am
a retired floral designer and I seriously couldn't see myself not
doing anything with flowers. I paint flowers, plant flowers and now I make
paper flowers. When I see a pretty vase or container, I know exactly what I
have to do with it — fill it up with colorful flowers!

How did you come up with
the name for your shop?

My shop is named after
my granddaughter Ruby Sweet Pea, since sweet pea is her middle name. She is 3
and the joy of my life, besides my own daughters.

How many hours a week do
you spend crafting and what's your favorite time of day to work?

I work from home
in my kitchen and I work all hours of the day — early morning is a favorite time
of day — everyone is asleep still. I have my first cup of coffee and
go through my projects for the day.

What’s your personal
favorite item in your shop?

I am loving the Brooch
Wedding Bouquet. They are so pretty and unique, and I get to shop at flea markets and go to auctions to try and find these treasures. I love all my paper flowers actually. If I didn't love them I wouldn't sell them.

What is one of your favorite
online shops/sellers?

One of my favorite shops is on Etsy, Ceremony. It has really lovely digital collage sheets. I
love to do digital art also in my spare time, using imaging software like
Photoshop or Corel.

Do you have an official
site or blog?

I do have a blog but am so embarrassed about it, there's no rhyme or reason to it. I'm going to
take a course on doing a blog so I can do it justice and post photos of
the brides who have bought a wedding package from me. The
link to my so-called blog is http://carolesart.blogspot.com/.

What blogs or sites do
you enjoy for tips and inspiration?

I like wedding blogs so
I can keep up with the newest trends.

What is your dream project?

To make enough paper flower arrangements to take to the surrounding nursing homes. I haven't had the time, but I think I just have to make the time.

What's one
important lesson you've learned about your craft?

That they do bring
people a lot of happiness, just like the real flower arrangements I used to
make. I have also learned not to sell myself short. A lot of people tell me
that I don't charge enough.

Have any advice for
those aspiring to do what you do?

Practice, practice and
don’t use good paper on your trial flowers, no matter how excited you are to
see what the new paper will look like as a flower. Be organized (I
am far from it but would love to be).

Have you made a stellar craft related to weddings or parties? Show us your creations when you upload a project
at CraftFoxes, and we might feature it right here! Come back every
Wednesday for fresh ideas for celebrations, weddings, showers and
birthday parties.